Dusk Til Dawn
by darveyisforever
Summary: An emotional wedding in combination with way too many drinks, a dance and an extraordinary sunrise might not sound like something Donna and Harvey need, especially not after everything they have been through in the past few weeks. But what if that's all they ever needed? Donna and Harvey spend dusk til dawn together and some long repressed feelings come up.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: I was listening to the song "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron and it reminded me of the dance Donna and Harvey shared in 7x16. This is how the scene could have gone down. Probably gonna write a second chapter soon. Listen to some romantic and relaxing music and enjoy this!_

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**1\. Dusk**

"What do you say?" Harvey asked and nodded towards the dance floor. He offered her his hand with the sweetest smile, and even though Donna knew that the memory of them dancing would haunt her later, she couldn't resist.

"I don't mind if I do." she replied and a soft smile grew on her lips. They intertwined hands and she tagged him along, just like she had done for so many years.

They came to an halt on the dance floor and Harvey rested his hand on her waist, causing her to get goosebumps, which she choose to blame on the alcohol rather than on his touch. Her hand rested on his lower shoulder, holding him close and at distance all at once. Their other hands were still intertwined without neither of them even really noticing, since it felt like the most natural thing on earth. Just then, a new song started and Harvey began to slowly carry her around on the dance floor.

"I have always loved this song." Donna mumbled quietly and her eyes searched his.

"Me too." he admitted slowly and for a moment, he thought he saw a flicker of surprise in her eyes. She gave him a small smile, before she rested her head on his shoulder, automatically drawing him closer. She could now feel his warm body pressed against hers and it made her feel incredibly safe. _His_ embrace. She spotted Mike and Rachel dance in the distant and her smile faltered for a second. This was Mike's and Rachel's wedding and as happy as she and Harvey were for them, they both knew that this would mean the end of something. The end of an era.

"I can't believe they are going." Donna mumbled into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. She could feel him nod slightly.

"I guess we should be happy for them." Harvey stated after a while and Donna stopped dead in her tracks.

"What?" Harvey asked and Donna looked at him in surprise, for the second time that evening within just a few minutes.

"Who are you and what have you done with Harvey Specter?" she teased him, lifting her head from his shoulder to look him in the eyes, "Ah, right. I forgot. Weddings make you emotional." The sarcasm in her voice wasn't able to be overheard.

"You can tease me all you want, I am just happy that Mike finally got his happy ending." he replied and even though she has always known that this was exactly the kind of man Harvey was, she couldn't help but be feel a little surprised. He suddenly seemed so secure and mature and for the first time ever, she asked herself, if maybe Paula hadn't had such a bad influence on him after all.

"I am happy for them, too." she gave in and moved her head back to his shoulder. His arms were holding her close, his thumb was softly caressing her lower back, probably unintentionally, but still, it send numerous shivers down her spine. She was so lost in her thoughts, him giving her a safe space to do so by practically hugging her, that she started playing with his hair at the nape of his neck. In combination with her warm breath against his neck, it took every ounce of him to not just grab her and kiss her or to just run, _again. _But even though he felt like he was on high voltage, he knew he had never felt more at home then in this moment.

"Do you have your happy ending?" Donna asked after a while, finally daring to ask the question that she had asked herself a lot, back than, when he had been with Paula. And even now and long before that. What did that even mean for Harvey? She knew that Harvey was good with kids and that there probably had been a time where he had seriously considered that and more, but she never really knew.

"What do you mean?" he asked, moving them perfectly through the crowed dance floor.

"I mean...do you feel...fulfilled with your life?" she asked quietly, "Was it fulfilling..with Paula?"

"It wasn't." he admitted after a while of silence, "I guess business wise, abosolutely..."

"And personally?" she asked and slowly moved her head away from his shoulder, she wanted to be able to look at him.

"I guess not.." he whispered, knitting his eyebrows before adding an explanation, "I have been going to a new therapist. He is helping me to become a man..that allows himself a happy ending."

"He?" Donna asked and a smile grew on her lips that she couldn't nor wouldn't repress.

"He." Harvey confirmed with a soft chuckle, "Why would you care?" He was now wearing a flirtatious grin and she looked down at their feet for a second, as she could literally feel her face flush red. His face was just a few inches apart from hers and she could feel his hot breath. She hated that after all these years he still had these kind off effects on her, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Their "no touching" rule, which they had silently created after the other time, normally kept them far enough apart, so this kind off affection didn't come up regularily. That made it a lot more difficult for Donna to deal with these "feelings".

"I just wanted to make sure that _someone_ is taking good care of you." Donna explained; someone being neither Paula Agard or any other female therapist for that matter - for his own sake, of course. She gave him a small smile, when she looked up again.

"Someone is." Harvey said, plopping the first word. He was wearing his soft smile, the one she loved so much and she searched for his eyes, before speaking up again.

"That is really good." she replied and she couldn't help but feel extremely proud of how far he has already come, "You are a good man, Harvey..and I am really proud of you, you know?"

"I know." he said slowly, nodding in acknowledgement. Her staunchly faith in him surprised him very often, but at the same time it was the one thing he kept hanging on to, "Wanna catch some fresh air?"

"Sure." she agreed and their hands intertwined again. This time, he was tagging her along and not the other way around. She was following him slowly, but steadily off the dance floor towards a little balcony apart from the crowd. Maybe they were finally headed in the same direction.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: So, here is the second chapter of this twoshot. It ended up being a bit different and longer than I had planned at the beginning..but I guess I kinda like it. However, it might seem a little unrealistic towards the end, but I wanted to do something new..and different. I hope you enjoy it! I appreciate any kind of feedback, thanks in advance for taking the time to read this._

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**2\. Dawn**

Donna was standing on the balcony, alone, looking over the night version of the beautiful city she has been calling her home for so many years now. The sun had set a few hours ago and the clock would soon strike midnight. Harvey was just grabbing them some snacks and a few drinks from the lobby and she couldn't wait to finally spend some time alone with him after all the drama of the past weeks. She knew that she was more than just partly responsible for that, after all she had kissed him. And even though she felt a little guilty because of his and Paula's break-up, she still wouldn't undo it.

"Hey." Harvey whispered and brought her back to reality. It was still pretty warm and Donna's red hair was curling a little in the wind. He was once again blown away by her endless beauty and a big smile grew on his face.

"Hey." she said quietly and smiled back at him. It was one of those moments she had begun to appreciate a lot; him using his soft voice that was somehow reserved for just those moments, paired with the sweetest smile on his lips.

"Look what I found." Harvey stated and held up a tube of whipped cream, wearing his cherish cat grin. This little thing would always remind him of the best night he ever had. With _her _\- not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

"Oh my god." Donna exclaimed and a laugh escaped her mouth. The memories of the other time rushing by her, leaving her feeling cold all of the sudden.

"Here." Harvey said, when he noticed that she was shivering and laid his jacket around her, "Want some champagne?"

"Give it to me, Mister." she replied, successfully hiding that she blushed by turning around to sit down on one of the two chairs. He followed her example, sat down and filled the two glasses with the rose-colored champagne.

"I still can't believe our little puppy got married today." Donna stated, nipping on her glass.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Harvey replied jokingly.

"I guess they do." she said and her smile faltered for a few seconds. When she was younger she had always imagined that she would have a family of her own one day, but she was pushing 40 and the chance of that dream coming true grew smaller with everyday that went by.

"You okay?" he asked. He had noticed that slight change in her face, her smile didn't seem as honest and happy as it had been just a few seconds before. After all he was pretty good at reading her, too, even though she always underestimated him in that area.

"Yeah..I guess weddings just tend to bring up some emotions." she replied and a bittersweet laugh escaped her mouth, "So, did you found any good snacks inside?"

Her real smile was back and he chose to go with it. He wasn't sure where this night would take them, but he wasn't about to bring up their most conflicted problem right away: feelings and everything that came with those.

"Well, apart from whipped cream, I also found some strawberries." he said with a flirtatious grin. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't quite repress her smile. She glanced at her feet and shook her head slightly, still wearing the biggest grin.

"You are an idiot." she stated simply and when she looked up again, his face was only a few inches apart from hers, way too close in her opinion. His blue eyes were looking directly into hers and she could feel how she slowly lost herself in them. His gaze shifted to her lips, but before anything could happen, Donna bursted out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Harvey asked confused. He used that moment to distance himself a little from her, very sure that he wouldn't be able to keep himself from caressing her cheek or tucking a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear, if their faces were merely a few inches apart.

"You remember..when you got the whipped cream on.." Donna stuttered, between sobbing from all the laughter, "The other time."

A big grin grew on Harvey's face, knowing exactly what she had meant, "I thought you wanted to put it out of your mind?" Harvey asked playfully and she rolled her eyes.

"You and I both know that it's not that easy." she replied, before she had fully thought her answer through. They both fell silent, knowing that it was the truth. Both of them had tried to put it out of their minds, but it just didn't work that way. Harvey had even tried to replace the memories by sleeping with other women.

"Well..wanna get drunk?" Harvey proposed, after a while of silence.

"Sure." Donna replied. Alcohol did sound pretty good in that moment.

One hour later they were definitely a little tipsy, since they had almost emptied every bottle of alcohol Harvey had "stolen" from the reception. They had started dancing and moving to the little bit of music that was able to be heard on the balcony.

"Oppss.." Donna said and laughed, when she tripped over something - something probably being her own feet - and ended up in his arms.

"Do you want to sit down?" Harvey asked, suddenly feeling pretty sober. With her scent filling the air around him and her warm body pressed against his, he felt like he was drunk on something entirely different than alcohol; he was drunk on _her._

"No." she whispered, "Let's just..stand here." She moved her head a little to be able to look at the sky. It was a very clear night and since the wedding was happening outside of the city, they were able to see some stars.

"The stars are so beautiful." Donna whispered in awe, after a while of silence. Her back was slightly leaning against his torso, his arms were wrapped around her protectively.

"You are beautiful." Harvey whispered, not quite realizing what he was saying until he had said it. It wasn't like he had never called her beautiful before, but this was different. It was the middle of the night, they definitely had some alcohol intus and they were at a wedding, where they had been touching each other one way or another for almost the entire evening.

"What are you doing?" Donna blurted out, the circumstances and her current situation making her more honest than she wanted to be.

"I am..complementing you?" he replied, obviously a little taken aback by her reaction. Normally, she would go with a witty comeback, lately she had even started to thank him, but he had never heard this kind of response before.

Donna sighed heavily. He had been sending her signals the whole evening and even though she loved it, she was tired. This whole dancing around each other paired with the events of the past few weeks, it just made her incredibly tired.

"I can't..do this anymore." Donna whispered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked quietly. Deep down he knew what she was talking about, but for some reason he felt like he needed her to say it.

"Oh, you know what I am talking about, Harvey." she said and teared herself from his grip. She turned around and spotted a small ladder at the edge of the balcony, which lead to the balcony of the highest floor. What would have normally frightened her at least a little bit, suddenly seemed like a good idea.

"Donna?! What are you doing?" he asked perplexed and watched her climb the ladder, unfortunately with only one hand. The other one was holding tight onto a bottle of wine.

"What does it look like I am doing? I wanna watch the sunrise from up there!" she exclaimed, her rather sad voice from just a few seconds ago had disappeared again.

"That's way too dangerous!" he argued, as he suddenly felt like he needed to be the voice of reason for her instead of the other way around.

"Come on, don't be a pussy!" she said. Donna had finally reached the balcony and sat down on the floor. Harvey rolled his eyes at her statement, but started climbing the ladder just a few moments later.

"Ah, look who is finally joining me!" Donna exclaimed, the alcohol seemed to have its' effetcs on her.

"Well, I couldn't let you sit here all by yourself now, could I?" he replied with a smirk and sat down right next to her.

She took a sip from the bottle, before handing it to Harvey. For minutes, maybe even hours - they weren't so sure anymore - they just sat there in silent, quietly enjoying each other's company whilst sipping wine.

"I am sorry." Harvey uttered suddenly and Donna turned her head slightly to look at him. With a soft smile she signalized him that she had accepted his apology.

"What for?" she asked quietly, encouraging him to keep talking.

"For being so incredibly good-looking." he said, wearing his cherish cat grin. She softly hit him on the shoulder and he put on a fake hurt expression.

"Hey!" he exclaimed and she rolled her eyes, but smiled right after, "Okay okay..I meant..for being so difficult to deal with sometimes." he added honestly, it was barely a whisper.

"You are. Sometimes." she agreed with a smile, before turning around to look at the sky again.

Most of the stars weren't visible anymore, since the sky had gotten lighter by the minute. The sun was just about to rise, some of the clouds had already turned into a soft orange. Harvey watched her from the side and couldn't help but acknowledge how beautiful Donna truly was. He wasn't quite sure why he did it, maybe it was the alcohol taking control over his body or it was just pure instinct, but he slowly placed his hand on hers. She turned around to look at him in question, but the words were stuck in her throat. He was looking at her in a way he had looked at her a million times, but there was something in his eyes, something new, something she had not seen before.

"Harvey..?" she mumbled quietly, completely and utterly lost in his eyes. As an answer he pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her with such an amount of love and passion that she kissed him back almost immediately. His hands found their way to her cheek, softly cupping her face to be able to lean in even more. Her hand disappeared into his hair, she was holding him close whilst running her fingers through his surprisingly soft hair. Her other hand was resting on his torso, slowly exploring his well-build body. When they finally parted to catch some air, they both had a big grin on their face.

"Learned some new tricks, huh?" Harvey teased her. Donna was a good kisser and she knew that he knew that, but he just loved teasing her.

"You are an asshole." she stated, but her smile gave her away.

"Where are you going?" Harvey asked as he watched her get her up.

"I thought about finding a..more personal space.." she replied playfully, but in a serious tone and he nodded agreeingly.

"Sounds good." he said in his soft voice and got up, too. He grabbed her hand, their fingers intertwined and he carefully tagged her along towards the ladder. Halfway there, she suddenly stopped and he turned around with a questioning look on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, but she could hear the nervosity in his voice.

"Nothing..I.." she stuttered, not really sure what to say, since she didn't really know what was bothering her in the first place.

"I love you, Donna." he whispered and tucked a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear. She looked at him in surprise, when she was honest with herself, she hadn't expected him to say these three little words to her or anyone else for that matter, any time soon. But here he was: saying them with pride and..love.

"I love you, too." she replied and placed a short, but sweet kiss on his lips, "Let's go."

They both were so focused on their upheating romance - or however you wanna call it - that they didn't even notice the sun rising behind the skyscrapers of NYC. The sky had turned into the most beautiful colors, whilst they were climbing down the ladder. A new day had begun and the city was slowly waking up. For most people it would just be another ordinary day, but for Donna and Harvey it was going to be the most extraordinary one in a long time. The day were they finally managed to take the plunge, just to realize it wasn't as hard as they always thought it would be. The first day of an entire new chapter, the first day of the rest of their lifes.


End file.
